As we have now entered into month nine of the world race I would like to share with you about a few stages that most, if not all, racers hit at some point in their time on the field.The thing about these stages is you don’t have to be in the middle of Africa to experience them.You can experience them right in your back yard if you want. Sometimes the Lord has to move us around the planet to show us them. I encourage you to apply these to your normal life. Ask the Lord and ponder about the stages where you need to grow because we never stop growing, right?
1) Extreme exhaustion
Extreme exhaustion is one of the first stages you hit on the race and one that tends to carry itself away with you throughout all your time on the field. Most of us face exhaustion while trying very hard to concur jet lag. A few months in jet lag is a distant memory but sometimes you become a little drained from everyday life. While my team and I were in Africa we hit extreme exhaustion. We challenged ourselves to read the bible in under thirty days. It was quite the task. Rewarding, hard and exhausting on occasion. There would be days where we had to stay up a little later in the night to catch up on reading. We all have a handful of stories about falling asleep with our bibles on our faces- we also have a lot of video footage to prove so as well.
2) Intense dehydration
On the race there are days where you will be far to lazy to purify your water but the dehydration goes much, much further than that. As you walk around the town you live in you see people searching. Thirsty for truth. Thirsty for the living water we have been privileged to drink from. You see this dehydration deep within them longing to hear the truth, longing for the most refreshing drink of water they have ever had. They are ready to taste, see and feel the goodness of being hydrated by our sweet Lord and savior. Sometimes their hearts move and they get the drink, they get the cup and flow with new life.
3) Heat stroke
In general there are places and months where it feels like you might be dying of heat stroke.The sun is hitting you right on your back as you play with sweet children, its rewarding but its hot. When I think of heat stroke I also think about people who are on fire for the Lord. Its a term that can be tossed around loosely in the Christian world but man does it hit deep. Our souls should be so on fire for the Lord that those around us in everyday life are catching heat stroke. The heat from the fire within us should be radiating so deeply from us that others can’t help but become thirsty and want a drink from the well that has given us new life.
4)Starvation
On the race you see real life hunger and a lot of spiritual hunger. You see a deep need for people to be fed. There were times when I saw this that reminded me of the goodness of the Lord. He is our daily bread. He serves Himself up daily for us to feast on. To walk away full of new revelation and love. He allows us to come sit with Him at the table of His goodness. We can come with clenched fists, weepy eyes or a cannon full of confetti to celebrate with Him. We get to be fueled by the Lord. The daily grumbles that happen in our stomachs remind us to eat breakfast but also remind us to keep feeding our selves and others. Both physically and spiritually.
5)Wearing the same clothes multiple days in a row
This is my personal favorite stage because no matter how much any of us want to deny doing this, we can’t. As I type this blog I am currently wearing the same pair of pants I wore to bed for the past three nights. On the race you have a fairly limited amount of clothes to wear and sometimes laundry is not always available. While in Malawi it seemed like the days you chose to do laundry also happened to be the most rainy. It also then appeared that whenever you had moderately clean clothes that the sun would shine bright and warm. I mean the kind of warm that would dry your jeans in two hours. You might pack ten shirts on the race but eventually you only end up liking about five. So you rotate your favorite five shirts over the course of two weeks. Making sure that you and your teammates give it the smell test of approval.
6)Not being able to go to the bathroom
If you can’t go the restroom on the world race the odds you have a parasite or ate some bad food are pretty high. I know this is not everyone’s cup of tea but it is a crucial part of these steps believe it or not. In fact times when visits to the bathroom were non existent I’ve learned a lot in the way of the Lords character. At one point on the race there was a time when my team and I were giving sermon after sermon to these ill people. I saw most of them say the salvation prayer over and over during our few of visits. My heart became heavy and saw this need to intercede for these people. Were these people just saying this prayer for fun? Did they want a relationship with Jesus? How were they going to be poured into after we left? I sat thinking about our inability to actually be there for these new found believers. Then the Lord made it clear. In my inability to do something the He is able. I might not be able to sit and pour into these people or be able to know that they are actually being poured into but the Lord is able to make that happen. We might not be able to see the fruits of these people but the lord is able to provide that and will, if it is His plan. I am coming to know that even though we are unable and the Lord is able, it doesn’t mean we should stop praying over these humans.
7)Not being able to stop going to the bathroom
If you can’t stop going to the bathroom on the world race odds are you either have a parasite or ate some bad food. There are also a few other factors I’m sure but I am yet to encounter them. There are points of the race where life is just hard. Ministry is pressing, your teammates are hard to love (note I’ve also been a hard to love teammate-shout out to my loving pals) you’re sick, the showers are cold, you have been eating nsima for the past twelve meals (not opposed because nsima and beans is an ideal meal). Life is just hard and in those moments you almost want to give up. Something happens though for most of us and we push through. It is at this point of the race, and in real life too, where you can’t stop. You cannot stop giving. You have to give all of your love and effort to ministry even though this kid just pulled your hair and punched you in the leg. You can’t stop loving your teammate just because they are annoying you. In fact you get the hard but beautiful opportunity to love them more than you ever have. It is in these moments where your flesh is saying “STOP” you get the choice to keep going. You have the choice to give more than you ever have, you get to pour out, give more, receive more than you ever thought. All because you decided you won’t lose the battle and that you won’t stop giving whatever it is you are giving.
8) Emotions- I can’t even think of a witty name for this
For some odd reason the race makes your emotions go all wack. Sometimes in the best way and sometimes in the worst. I’ve cried a lot more on the race than I have in my previous 19 years. I mean ugly cries too, not sweet delicate tears. So, the whole race I have listened to “Drops of Jupiter” by Train. It is a great song and the lyrics are impeccable. I don’t have the song on my phone but for some reason someone on my team has always had it available. Any way, the other day I was sitting in a hammock and all of the sudden I heard two of my sweet teammates playing and singing the song. How sweet is that?! I went and found them my eyes wet with tears. I sat and cried happy tears so hard that I couldn’t even sing the song. I am not sure if this is a normal emotional response but now days it is. In that I’ve seen many teammates cry because a restaurant had their favorite food, I’ve been people cry because someone has accidentally drank their coffee or because someone stepped on their bed. I once cried because I saw a funeral driving through the streets of Cambodia-month one my friends. I hit this stage month one.
9) Insanity
We follow and insane God right? Who does insane things. Who puts us in wonder of who He is every day if we allow Him too. Our God is insanely awesome. And as we give our lives to Him with our whole hearts He asks us to do insane things. Like leave a job you love a lot to open an after school program you’ll love even more. He asks us to leave comforts of home and a bed to whisper sweet nothings to orphan children. The Lord asks us to do insane things, because His love for us is more insane than we could ever imagine. When the Lord asks any of us to do something insane its pretty neat, because in that moment of trusting our crazy, adventurous God our lives open up to a new book of deepness. Deeper loving, deeper surrender, deeper joy , deeper laughter and most importantly a deeper relationship with this insane God.
